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Jem stared from Nick to the girl and back again.

Fury bloomed in his light green eyes. Not just fury––a violence-trembling rage. The violet rings around each of his irises seemed to glow in the gold-colored overheads. Nick stared at the look there, bewildered, and a little afraid.

What the fuck? Jem didn’treallythink he was screwing around with some kid, did he?

Jesus fucking Christ. How could he possibly think that of him?

“How did she get in here?” Black asked, speaking only to Nick.

“I don’t know.” Nick tore his eyes off Jem with an effort, and looked at Black. “What the fuck time is it?” He looked at his watch, trying to answer his own question, and realized it wasafter one o’clock in the afternoon. Had he really been lying there for three hours?

“Not expecting me so soon, cousin?” Jem asked coldly.

Nick gave him a disbelieving look that quickly turned angry.

Black didn’t seem to have any patience for Jem’s addition to the conversation either. He gave the green-eyed seer a hard, warning look, then returned his gaze to Nick.

“How the fuck did she get in here?” he repeated, colder. “How did she even know where you were?”

Nick exhaled, increasingly having to fight anger.

How on earth was thishisfault? Everyone in the building, including his own mate, thought he was a child molester now? Because that was just…gaos,he didn’t even have words for howfucked upthat was.

“How did she get out of your place?” he retorted back.

Black and Miri exchanged looks, and Nick scowled.

He answered Black’s question before the dark-haired seer could ask it a third time.

“I didn’t lock the door,” Nick said, exasperated. “I was expecting Jem.” He glanced at his mate, then looked away with a scowl when Jem only glared at him. “I think the bigger question is, how the hell did she know where to find me? Did she just open doors at random until she found someone she knew? Did she send Panther after me? What?”

He looked at the girl as he said that part, and caught her staring at Jem.

The two of them looked at one another in a way that might have been comical under different circumstances. Jem didn’t glare at Aura like an adult glaring at a child, but more like an adult glaring at another adult. The girl, Aura, didn’t look at Jem like a young person normally would an adult, either. Aura glared at him like Jem was another girl on the schoolyard, and she wasplotting how to scratch his eyes out, or maybe something a lot worse.

Nick clicked his comm to Jem’s channel.

He kept it on sub-vocals, but glanced warily at the kid, knowing she might hear it.

“Jesus, Jem. She’s a fucking kid. Back off a little.”

“Back off a little?”Jem glared openly at him, naked fury in his eyes, enough that Nick felt hairs raise on the back of his neck.“You want me to take it easy on her? Extend some brotherly love? Just how did you wake up, brother?”he snarled.“Which part of you had her mouth on it? Or were you about to tell me she only came here for some fatherly advice?”

Nick stared at him, too shocked to answer at first.

“A little compassion wouldn’t be amiss,” he said finally, speaking aloud that time, still staring at his mate. “Jesus, Jem. What the hell is the matter with you?”

“What’s the matter withme?”Jem snarled.

Miri jumped visibly. Her eyes widened as she stared at Jem.

“Yeah,” Nick growled back, refusing to back down. “What the fuck is going on with you lately? Since when are youincapableof being rational about––”

“Rational?” Jem growled.

Black lost patience.

“Shut the fuck up!”He glared Jem, then at Nick. “Both of you. Shut. Up.”